US100 rallies 2.7% before the weekend 🚀

Nasdaq 100 futures (US100) are rallying nearly 2.7% (+2% after contract rollover), trading inches below the recently marked all-time-high at about 30,790, as the US-Iran peace deal reduces geopolitical premium and redirects capital flows back to riskier equities.

Source: xStation5

Risk On, Tech Up

The Technology sector single-handedly powered the Nasdaq 100’s bullish session, surging 2.34% and capturing the lion's share of the index's positive contribution. This hardware-driven rally was anchored by semiconductor heavyweights like Broadcom (+4.14%) and Nvidia (+1.94%), which comfortably neutralized a minor decline in Microsoft (-0.89%). Communications (+0.69%) and Consumer Discretionary (+0.55%) lent steady secondary support via Amazon (+1.97%), easily overwhelming localized sector weakness in Energy (-2.30%) and Health Care (-0.78%).

Performance of Nasdaq 100 stocks today. Source: XTB Research

🚀 Top 5 Gainers (Semiconductor & Storage Rally)

The leaderboard was entirely dominated by chipmakers and memory manufacturers, driven by intense buying momentum across the tech hardware space:

• Marvell Technology: +11.44% — Led the entire index with double-digit gains, continuing its massive year-to-date run.

• Sandisk: +10.41% — Followed closely behind, pushing its astronomical YTD return over 812%.

• Intel: +8.30% — Staged a strong single-day rally to clear key overhead resistance.

• Western Digital: +8.22% — Mirrored the massive demand spike seen in storage peers like Sandisk.

• KLA Corporation: +7.77% — Provided a strong rebound despite heavily negative medium-term (1M and YTD) trends.

Other notable hardware gainers included Micron Technology (+7.62%), Monolithic Power Systems (+6.31%), and ARM Holdings (+5.86%).

📉 Top 5 Losers (Software & Services Drag)

While hardware surged, IT consulting, enterprise software, and specific healthcare companies faced notable selling pressure:

• Cognizant Technology Solutions: -9.17% — The day's worst performer by a wide margin, deepening its YTD losses to -46.8%.

• Strategy: -4.55% — Faced continued downside momentum, pushing its 1-year return down past -70%.

• Palantir Technologies: -3.38% — Pulled back amid the tech rotation, trading at a premium P/E of 141.1.

• AppLovin: -3.21% — Retreated into negative territory for the month, down roughly 31% YTD.

• Datadog: -3.12% — Softened despite maintaining a highly positive 1-year performance posture (+75.6%).

Summary of best and worst performers today. Source: XTB Research

De-escalation of the US-Iran Conflict and Post-Fed pressure release

Geopolitical tensions eased dramatically after President Trump and his Iranian counterpart unexpectedly accelerated their timeline by signing an interim peace agreement memo on Wednesday. Taking effect on Thursday, the deal clears a path for reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping and rolling back sanctions on Iranian crude, though complex issues like Tehran's nuclear program remain sidelined for a 60-day negotiation window. This sudden pivot toward diplomacy rapidly deflated oil's wartime premium—sending Brent crude sliding as much as 3% toward $78 a barrel—and triggered a massive relief rally across Wall Street as money rotated out of energy hedges and back into equities. Additionally, the recent FOMC decision removed the uncertainty regarding a hawkish bias amoung policymakers, though Warsh's first conference turned out to be rather laconic.

The Dollar Index (USDIDX) rallied 1% this week to its highest since May 2025, supported by hawkish outcome of Warsh’s first FOMC. On the other hand, US 10-year tresuries reacted without excess volatility (TNOTE contract, yellow, inverted). Source: xStation5